Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Drawing at work


Had a long conference today, with a lecture included. It was on an interesting subject, really, but sitting still and listening all day is something that I can´t seem to get away with anymore. I´m used to WORKING at work - you know, being active, running errands, talking to students, lecturing, making lesson plans, and so on. Sitting still for too long makes me all drowsy and sooner or later I begin to drop off. Very embarrassing. So what better thing to keep me awake than a pen and a sketchbook?

This is not really a portrait of the man who gave the lecture (he would not recognize his face in this drawing), but rather a trial to capture the shadows on his face. He had quite an expressive face, and stood right under a lamp while speaking.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like it. I've tried to do that, but I start out trying to just get the shadows and end up including everything else (ears, shirt collar, tie, jacket, pen in pocket, etc.). Drives me nuts. :)

Bonny said...

Nina, I really admire how you drew this face without lines to outline it. The highlights under his eyes set the whole 'tone' of the portrait. Lovely sketch!

Marilyn said...

Very interesting. I like just the face (no entire head) and the expression. The character in this person's face is so well suggested with all the shadows (cross hatching).

Margaret McCarthy Hunt said...

NICe job...but puhleez tell me WHY blogger wnats me to type in EIGHT letters to post...groan...

Linda said...

This is really an interesting approach to an interesting face -- VERY well done!

Gabriel Campanario said...

hi nina, you got the shadows to work very nicely. well done! btw, i love your year resolution about drawing people, i should add that to my own list of goals for the year. thanks for stopping by my blog too

Felicity Grace said...

Nice drawing, it looks alive and I like how you've done the mouth.
Thanks for your comment Nina, my husband and I had a good laugh about it! He has a tiny little pot with a saying about the Swedes humour (lack of ;)! )so he knows about the friendly rivalry - he has some funny stories about overheard arguments between Norwegians too!

Anonymous said...

Goodness it's great how you got the shadowing right with these loose strokes. And there is nothing better than a sketch to stay awake, for sure...

Anonymous said...

Wonderful hatching and values on this Nina